From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Light of Day", sometimes written as
"(Just Around the Corner to the) Light of Day", is
a song written by Bruce Springsteen and performed
initially by Joan Jett
and Michael J.
Fox with their fictitious band The Barbusters in the 1987 film
Light of
Day. The song has since become a staple in Jett's
concerts, often representing the show's high point.

The song appeared on the Light of Day soundtrack album.
As a single, it reached number 33 on the Billboard Hot
100 and received additional album-oriented rock airplay due to
its Jett and Springsteen connection. A music video featuring The Barbusters
performing the song, interspersed with numerous scenes from the
rest of the film, was popular on MTV. The song has also appeared on several Jett
compilation albums.

Lyrics

"Light of Day" is a powerful guitar-driven, roadhouse-flavored stomper that
features Springsteen's usual automotive imagery and includes some
of his heartland
rock sentiments as well as some of the film's sensibility:

Well, I've been out of the woods for six days and nights
now

And I'm a little hot wired but I'm feeling all right
now

I got some money in my pocket and I won't need a ride,
yeah!

I got a big Jag car and a baby by my side, yeah

Well, I'm a little hot wired but I'm feeling okay

And I got a little lost down along the way

Well, I'm just around the corner till the light of day,
ye-ah

The song's lyrics focus on the quest for happiness amidst life's
difficult circumstances, told through the eyes of a person driving
and traveling the nation and world in search of something better,
only to find that it really existed at home all along.

While the song's lyrics do not directly mention either
Springsteen's native New
Jersey or Jett's native Pennsylvania by name, the song has been
interpreted to reference the authenticity of people and places
associated with these two states, inspired at least partly by
Springsteen's failed marriage to actress Julianne
Phillips and Springsteen's brief residence in California with Phillips,
which Springsteen has since described disparagingly.

Song's inspiration
and use by Springsteen

The tale is told that Springsteen donated the song to film
director Paul
Schrader as loose payment for his having appropriated
Schrader's working title for this film for the song "Born in the U.S.A.." Because
the song was written around Springsteen's divorce from Phillips, it
also includes subtle references to the rejection of inauthentic
relationships between people with different value structures,
described lyrically by Springsteen as "I got a little lost down
along the way."

Springsteen subsequently featured "Light of Day" heavily in his
own concerts; it showed up during his 1987 Jersey Shore club appearances, then served
as the main set closer throughout his 1988 Tunnel of Love Express, 1992-1993 "Other
Band", 1995 (six shows with Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers
in a band featuring Bruce on lead guitar and occasional lead vocal)
and 1999-2000 Reunion
Tours. Two such performances were captured in the 1993 In
Concert/MTV Plugged and 2000 Live in New York
City videos and albums, but any particular rendering could be
extended to arbitrary length via Springsteen raps, vamps, stage
hijinks, and false endings.